


forget-me-nots

by sapphicstarkid



Category: A Very Potter Musical Series - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Quirrellmort - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicstarkid/pseuds/sapphicstarkid
Summary: quirrell and voldemort attend hogwarts. they catch each others attention and slowly get closer. but why would the flower loving introverted ravenclaw and the dancing extroverted slytherin fall for each other? and what happens when one of them already has a girlfriend?
Relationships: Quirinus Quirrell/Voldemort
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. tom riddle

The books were laid out all over the room, some were open, others were upside down, one was currently being flipped by a little boy with brown short hair and a tie in blue and silver. The only source of light was a half burnt candle. A slow drip of stearin made its way down and joined the circle of already dried stearin. The boy sighed while scribbling down notes as his eyes went from side to side, page after page. He was quiet as a mouse.

That was until he accidentally dropped his feathered pen on the wooden floor. Another boy had heard and seemed to wake up, his sheets made sounds as if made of thin paper.

“Quirinus, it’s super late! Get some rest boy, you need it.”, Quirinus looked over at him, waiting for the other boy to turn back and fall back into his dreams before reading another page. He then proceeded to close the book and gather the rest of them, all while holding the candle in one hand. The pen that laid on the floor was soon found in his warm hands and carefully placed on a nightstand. He sighed before getting to bed, not bothering to change clothes, only took off his uncomfortable tie and undid some of the buttons on his shirt. The last thing he did before attempting to fall asleep was blowing out the candle, leaving the room both pitch dark and quiet, besides the wind that was howling outside. The stars that was glimmering on the sky was the only light that was seen. He looked at the moon, it was almost full, before slowly fading away into a dreamless sleep. 

-

The Great Hall was full of people, in only a couple of days not even half of these people would be sitting here. It was like a storm before the calm. 

Quirrell sat by himself. There were other Ravenclaws around him, next to him and in front of him but it was like he was invisible, not because it was something unusual, Quirinus had a couple people to talk to sometimes but they all had better friends than him, he was too quiet anyways, speaking was the thing he was worst at. But it didn’t bother him too much, if he just passed his N.E.W.T’s he would be fine. It’s what’s most important anyways.

When he was done eating, full and ready for Defence Against Dark Arts, one of his favorite subjects, he finally left the hall. The corridor already had students in them, witches and wizards were talking, screaming and even running. Quirrell ignored them and looked to the ground, saw nothing but shoes, lots of them. Suddenly he felt something hit his shoulder, pretty hard, out of instinct he lift his head and looked back, trying to see who did it. It was a 7th grader, pale with dark circles around his eyes and a sharp jawline. Tom Riddle. They looked at each other for what felt like minutes, never had anyone paid attention to him, never had anyone looked at him in that way before. Everyone feared Riddle, he had a reputation and Quirrell was generally scared of the older kids, but something about him made Quirinus not want to turn his head back onto the ground, he wanted to stop dead in his tracks to just stare at him, into those deep blue eyes. They were enchanting. Before he knew it Tom had already turned away and soon he was long lost in the crowd of people. Quirinus noticed his breathing had changed, he turned back into the direction he was going, the wizards around him were much faster and someone asked him to hurry up. His mind had lost its track, he was unfocused and confused but soon his pace was back into its normal tempo, a tiny bit faster than everyone else. His thoughts were finally in the right place and he could concentrate again, took a staircase down and rushed into the classroom, a minute late.

-

“Hey man, you were late to class?” Damien rushed up to him, Quirinus felt himself jump a little since people speaking to him still was something he wasn’t used to. 

He nodded shortly, wanting the conversation to end.

“Why?” Yet another question.

“I don’t know it was just a minute, wasn’t it?”

“Right,” Damien got the message and slowed down his pace to go back to his own little friend group. 

Quirrell sighed and tried to get it out of his mind as soon as possible. He took some turns, walked some stairs and gave a forced smile to some passing teachers before reaching the library. The only place he could actually relax at. He sat down at an empty table and put down his bag before getting up and searching for the books about flowers, he had always been fond of them. The ones that weren’t really special at all, who could take a long time to grow and when they were ready they blossomed and showed themselves to be worth all that effort and time, making you want to stare at them forever. He knew every spell to make them grow faster and to make them immediately blossom but it took the beauty of it away, of course there weren’t any muggle books here but something that could help him just a little would be nice. 

While calmly searching the shelves and reading titles for some time he suddenly heard voices, and it wasn’t the voices of other Ravenclaws who had tests tomorrow, no, these ones had those raspy voices while they were whispering intensely to each other and finishing it with evil laughs. Quirinus immediately stopped his search and put back the book he was just holding that was all about the fanged geranium flower. He knew these weren't the nice kind of people, all from personal experience, so he slowly backed to the corners where the shadows were deeper and darker in hope no one would see or hear him. He heard them sit down at a table, probably the same he had his bag at. Now he could actually hear what they were saying.

“Did you hear? Riddle just got sent to Dumbledore's office, I heard he had tried to cast a spell over that Blaise kid. I mean he deserved it-” they went quiet. Quirinus noticed he had stopped breathing. The silence was unbearable. They whispered something, he went deeper into the library between the high shelves of old books, the further in he went the dustier they got, he crammed himself into the corner and stayed there, now not hearing anything at all. Footsteps came from the distance, went from side to side and soon disappeared. After waiting for a while he slowly got out of his corner, tapping the stone floor lightly until making sure they had left. He quickly took a book about plants from the shelves he had looked at before, before rushing back to his bag, it was open, one of his dear books had been thrown across the floor and pages were filling the table, they had been torn out and tossed all across the place. Quirinus quickly gathered the papers checking so he had all of them, just as he counted his last paper he saw that all the other papers that were once in his bag were now gone, all his assignments and notes during lessons. He searched some more before coming to the conclusion that they stole it. He sighed and put back the rest of the papers in his bag before swinging it over his shoulder and leaving the beloved library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short first chapter but thank u so much for reading!! this is my first time posting an actual story here so i hope u like it, i have a lot of plans and hopefully i'll have enough motivation to bring it all. english is not my first language and even though i love writing, i'm not that good at it. but yeah, 11 years later and this ship is still so stuck in my head that i wrote a fanfic about them wow.


	2. the library

The food today looked appetizing, more than usual. Quirinus looked around to see if anyone had sauce but couldn’t spot any. He was just about to get back to his meal when he saw someone, someone who was looking at him. It was Tom. He was staring intensely at Quirinus, not even trying to hide it. His friends were talking over him, big hand gestures and one just banged their hands on the table making everyone’s plates shake, including Riddle’s, but he didn’t look away. Quirrell felt his cheeks get warmer, he tried to look away but Tom didn’t stop. Why?

He could see a girl with dark curly hair trying to communicate with him, she gave Quirinus a quick look before shaking Tom vigorously and finally he looked away, his lips moved as he was talking but Quirrell couldn't make out a word, Riddle's eyebrows wrinkled more for each second and the anger rose within him. They looked at each other before he stood up and walked out of the hall. Quirrell looked after him but soon he was gone, he had an urge to go after but they’d never even spoken so he stopped himself and went back to his meal. Suddenly he wasn’t so hungry anymore.

-

“Hey Quirinus, what was that about earlier today?” It was Damien again. Quirinus turned around and wrinkled his eyebrows, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was. “You know at dinner?” Quirrell played oblivious.

Damien sighed.

“Riddle looked at you, like a lot! And then he just left, do you guys know each other?” He thought for a second what to reply, but he just tried to furrow his eyebrows again before looking down onto the concrete ground. “He’s just not a good guy alright, I don’t want him to use you, even though i know you would like a friend group. But hey, you can always join me and the guys!”

“Yeah, like you care.” He finally got out of him. Damien’s face turned and he gave the shorter boy a pitied look.

“Hey, I care. I just don’t want to intimidate you. Just, if you need a friend come to me or someone else here, not Riddle and that group, they even call him their dark lord. Seems like a cult to me.”

Quirrell shrugged.

“Thanks.” He whispered under his breath. Damien smiled at him, but only half heartedly since he saw that the other boy wasn’t really happy. He waved at Quirinus who just gave the black haired boy a soft smile and a shrug before turning around and heading straight for the library.

-

After an hour of reading history books and another attempt of finding a good book about plants he looked up. Piles of books in front of him, but nothing compared to what the giant library held. The fact that there were so many books, so many interesting stories and facts and even secrets in there, knowledge known to very few, every single book someone had written, put their hearts down on paper, researched and written page after page for it to just end up in one of the corners where all the books were dusty. Perhaps that’s the reason why he found himself here so often, going here at least once a week wasn’t enough, even going here everyday or even always being here would never be enough to discover it all, it’s what made it so interesting. People could think it was weird, boring like he had no personality except reading, but it didn’t stop the curiosity of it. He often heard phrases from the other houses like 'typical Ravenclaw', he didn’t mind it but he was one of the few ones that actually spent so much time here. 

Quirinus heard something, a sigh. Of course there were other students here from time to time, some even more than him. He looked around to check if he could spot them, and over there, the boy who he saw more and more as the days went by. The very pale boy, he sat reading a book with a black cover, it was pretty thick. He studied him, his position, Tom looked tired, his back arched and his head low, his eyes sped through the text but many times he got stuck and Quirrell noticed when he reread the same sentence again. He also had some paper and a pencil next to him. He was alone which was very unusual.

But as soon as he looked up Quirrell awoke from his daydreaming, his hand quickly slipped and he scraped his elbow against the table which just had been holding up his face, leaving a red mark on his chin but could barely be spotted against his cheeks which had already gone redder. His head clumsily shrunk back to his book, lower than before, while forcing himself to read. It was so quiet he could hear his heart beating fast. After what felt like hours he heard footsteps, approaching and soon settling down some seats away from him. Quirinus didn’t dare to look up, he would probably make a fool out of himself.

“I see you in here a lot, don’t I?” a surprisingly soft voice spoke, forcing Quirrell to give some kind of reaction to his words, he didn’t want to be rude after all.

“I guess so.” He murmured. After an uncomfortably silent moment he continued. “Haven’t seen you here a lot though.. especially not alone.” The boy sighed and Quirinus finally looked up at him, sharp outlines of his face, very pale and unruly hair. Messily knot tie and two big circles under his eyes. Yet he looked so kind.

“Yeah I just need to catch up with some schoolwork,” Quirinus noticed the book he had brought to the table, it was about herbology.

“You need help with that? Herbology is actually one of my favorite subjects,” he looked up, looking like he was about to smile, the left side of his lips raised slightly and his eyes went smaller but soon it was gone and he was up on his feet again. Quirrell smiled back at the pale boy who once again moved closer to Quirinus.

He shoved the book to the middle of them and Quirinus immediately leaned over, checking what the white haired boy had been reading some minutes ago, even though Riddle was one year over Quirinus he knew everything that stood in that book as he’d read it at least four times, he slid his finger over the shiny page, his finger stopped and he started talking. He didn’t like talking usually but he barely felt embarrassed at that moment, he knew everything and his soul was so filled with joy, to share his passion with someone else who seemed fairly interested gave him a thrill. To let someone else into his world and teach them about all the amazing features of these plants. Teach someone else about what he’d been studying on the side of school work for the past years, after talking non stop about plant after plant giving hand gestures and pointing at pictures, he went quiet and realized what he’d been doing. He looked at the other boy whose eyes were now wide open, he was still looking at the book but when the brown haired boy had stopped talking he also looked up. He smiled, Riddle smiled and he looked so beautiful. Quirinus had never seen him smile, not like that. It was a bit shy but it was so warm, he couldn’t help but smile back when looking at him. He felt happy, an emotion which he had forgotten about, sounds sad and of course he had been happy before but not like this, not in a long time. Most days were filled with stress and then complete emptiness, maybe some sadness or some kind of nice feeling but nothing more than that. He didn’t know why this boy, the boy who everyone was terrified of, the boy who had threatened to kill a teacher and almost gotten expelled two times but Dumbledore prevented it both times, the boy who now sat in front of him and looked so innocent, so nice, so warm and so so beautiful. 

His smile faded as their eyes went deeper and deeper, it was as they connected on a deep level and soon Quirinus felt his hand, laying on the pages of the Herbology book with another hand next to it, not his hand but a pale cold hand, which was turning warmer by the second, he looked down on them and saw their hands touching slightly, as much as he wanted to keep it there his mind told him otherwise and soon he had removed it, leaving an even colder spot on the side of his hand. The other boy looked down and up again, his smile completely faded realizing what had just happened. He opened his mouth slightly but closed it again. The silence suddenly hit Quirinus and awkwardness crept up on him from behind.

“Thank you for the lesson, uhm -?”

“Quirrell, Quirinus Quirrell.”

“Quirrell..,” Riddle seemed to taste the word, whispered it under his breath one more time. “You know that kinda sounds like-”

But he couldn’t get any further before loud heels were heard racing towards where they sat, soon a pretty short girl appeared from around the corner of a shelf with a not very happy facial expression.

“Voldemort, what are you doing? We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” She stopped and almost stomped one of her feet to the ground and then proceeded to put both her hands to her hips. He seemed to have a loss of words, in the matter of seconds his once soft face turned ugly and he looked up at her. It was the girl he was seen hanging out with a lot, someone who seemed to be all over him. It was the girl he had gotten mad at in the Great hall some days ago. He sighed deeply before getting up and walking right past her without even looking back at Quirinus, the girl quickly followed after and was soon right by his side, gripping his arm trying to keep up with him but he gently shook her off. They disappeared together and soon their footsteps did too.

Quirrell sat there, alone again. He looked at the book in front of him, not minding the pile of books he was planning on reading today. He looked around before shoving it down his bag and then shrinking to the table with his head between his arms, trying to understand what just happened moments ago. His face was still burning but couldn’t wrap his head around why. He hadn’t had a real friend in a while but quickly realized this would only be a one time thing. Riddle already had friends, friends who even called him something other than his real name, it sounded a bit stupid but he didn’t seem to care at all. He was lost in his thoughts and the only thing his mind constantly went back to was that smile, that damn smile. Gently banging his head into the table and begging for his thoughts to go away. Schoolwork is what is most important, he couldn’t get distracted, not now.


	3. man in a hurry???????

He didn’t see Riddle for the next couple days, ever since he walked off with that girl he’d been gone. Quirinus caught himself looking around in the corridors after him, he wasn’t even in the Great Hall at breakfast. She was gone too, the two seats looked so empty but Quirinus got himself to stop thinking about it, at least for shorter periods of time. He thought about what Damien said last week, he was probably right anyways, Tom wasn’t a good guy even though he sometimes came off as one, like in the library. Maybe he just wanted to see how easily fooled a loser really was, a loser like him. Losers like him are in fact easily fooled it turns out. He was better off without friends anyways, he’d made it this far so why couldn’t he do it for the last few years as well, and one of the last things he wanted was to get in trouble, which he now realized he probably would if he kept hanging out with that boy. 

Quirinus looked over at Damien and Crystal, they were laughing together, when he looked closer he could see their arms moved in sync with each other, he tried to see if they really were holding hands or not but their coats covered it all up neatly. Cute, he sighed to himself before leaning his chin on the cold spoon. Too cute. He didn’t get why he was so annoyed. Always so annoyed at everyone, everyone except for him. 

-

Some more days went by, Quirinus spent his days in the library or in the Ravenclaw common room, mostly alone. Learned some new things about the history of Dark Arts and studied for upcoming tests, read a book or two for the joy of it and went out to sit by the trees looking at flowers. Things were okay, they were normal at least.

As he sat by a tree a Thursday, the day before Easter break, he was scribbling on a piece of paper and had a flower laying on the page of a book. He sat on his jacket and was leaning against the big tree. 

He heard voices, someone was heading in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch, a man in a hurry. It was Riddle, of course. After not seeing him for more than a week Quirrell couldn’t help but stare. Riddle looked over at him, quicker than usual, no emotion in his eyes. Although it was longer than just a glance, probably longer than he intended. Quirinus looked back, showing just as little emotion. In the distance he could see the curly haired girl waiting for him. Sighing, he looked back down in his book and took another grip of his pen, making some more notes on the thin sheet of paper. 

He looked up once again to see if they were still there, to his surprise they were. She was holding his hands, standing on the tip of her toes, slowly moving one of her hands to his chest while looking deep into his eyes. No emotion from him, he just looked at her, but soon he wasn’t. He looked over at Quirrell who watched confusedly, Riddle was visibly uncomfortable, he searched for something, some kind of reaction from Quirrell, but he didn’t give the tall boy anything. So Riddle looked down before returning his attention to the girl, she gave him a quick peck on his lips but he quickly put his arms around her shoulder to walk away from there, so Quirinus couldn't see them any more. Confusion filled his head, why did he feel so disgusted by that, by her doing those things. He tried to not think any more of it but unfortunately it got stuck in his head for the rest of the day. 

He spent his lunch sitting next to Damien. He really tried to join their conversation, showing interest but it was hard. Damien soon noticed and looked at him.

“Are you alright, Quirinus?” He didn’t know what to respond so he quickly nodded and gave Damien a weak smile. He didn’t seem convinced but decided not to be too forward. “So, have you ever had an encounter with snakes?”

Once again Quirrell’s only response was a simple shaking of his head, his cheeks had slowly gotten warmer as everyone’s attention had gotten to him. Soon enough they were wound up in the conversation again but it didn’t make him any less embarrassed. 

Quirinus as usual stayed after the defence against dark arts lesson to write down some more notes. The professor looked over at him a few times to make sure he was doing alright but other than that she was making her own notes. After sitting there for a while there was a knock on the door. Quirinus looked up as the door slowly opened. In stepped the tall pale boy, he looked around to find Quirinus, so he nodded at the professor before sneaking over to him.

“Hi.”

Riddle sat down next to him, who remained silent.

“You never got to finish telling me about the Venomous tentacula.”

Quirinus couldn’t get a single word out of him, he just stared with his mouth partly open. 

“You know what, this was a dumb idea I’m so sorry for bothering you. I just-”, he looked down. “Sorry.” And with that final word he began moving to the door. Quirrell still couldn’t speak, and soon the door was already closed. 

He sat there for a while just looking at the door, as if he would come back for some reason. He sighed before getting up and nodding at the professor, gathering his things and leaving as well. 

-

Quirrell moved rather quickly when he was going somewhere, especially when it was dark out. Not because he was scared or anything, more because he couldn’t see too much, he couldn’t see if another student was lurking around the corners, watching him. He couldn’t see if anyone was laughing at him, for any reason. That’s what made him move faster, so that he could be like a blur to anyone who tried to make fun of him, or so they didn’t even know he was there. 

He was on his way to the Ravenclaw common room, that’s when he almost bumped into the pale boy who also seemed to be in a rush. Luckily he stopped before they got to that part, but the guy still noticed him and soon stopped as well.

“Quirrell?” The soft voice spoke, and the brunette caught him smiling. “What are you doing here so late?”

“I’m heading to the Ravenclaw common room, I should be the one asking you though.” Quirinus was finally able to speak, he found it wasn’t that hard to make a conversation with Riddle since he actually seemed to enjoy Quirinus’ company.

“Oh me? I was just about to go to... the library..” Riddle hesitated and looked down for a moment.

“But the library is that way, is it not?” He pointed to the other direction, everyone knew where the library was, so why would he speed off in the wrong direction?

“You are of course very right, Squirrel-” His eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.. I better be off, it was nice talking to you!” And before Quirrell had the opportunity to answer him he was already off, into the darkness, still not on his way to the library. 

“Alright..” Quirinus whispered to himself, looking off into the distance before turning back to his own path.

When he got into the common room he was met by the six people who were still up, they just stared at him like he was some kind of freak. He quickly sped off to his room. 

He found Damien sitting on the bed next to his. 

“Where were you? You’re usually here before any of us arrive.” Quirrell put down his bag and pulled out a small brown book, which he then placed on his nightstand. He didn’t even look at the other boy.

“You don’t need to babysit me, I’m fine on my own.” Damien went quiet for a while, he could feel the other boy's eyes burning into the back of his head as he sat down to finish an essay about potions.

“Sorry, I just worry about you.”

“Well there is no need to, I told you I’m doing great on my own, in fact.” Damien just gave him a sad sigh. “Now I need to finish this essay that is due tomorrow so if you could please-” He didn’t need to finish the sentence, because he knew Damien would keep quiet and mind his own business for the rest of the night. 

Quirrell couldn’t help but feel bad for being so cold to someone just wanting to help, but he just didn’t want anyone to keep supervising him like a hawk, it had gotten a little uncomfortable.

Quirinus managed to finish the essay, but it took longer than usual, his mind kept steering him off tracks, thinking about where Tom was heading, where he was now and why he lied. What was so secret he couldn’t tell him? Not because they were friends or anything, he was just curious, and Tom seemed to be so nice and friendly towards Quirrell, in a way Damien couldn’t do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know not a lot of people actually read this story but hey, it still motivates me to continue. even if no one eagerly waits for a new chapter i still feel like i should keep myself to a steady schedule. if no one reads this story, that is fine, because i still had a blast planning and writing it and even though i have some school work that needs to be done this is way more fun:)  
> so if someone actually reads this, thank u<3


	4. baby blue eyes

The next day 90% of the students were packing their bags, that included Damien. Quirrell had nothing better to do, so he watched him from his own bed. Damien pulled out shirts and books and whatever he needed for the Easter break at home. He seemed scared to even look at Quirrell and avoided his gaze.

Soon his bags were filled to the brim and he had to put in his own weight to even be able to close it, as soon as he locked it he took a step back, clearly proud of his work. 

“What about your shoes?” Quirinus pointed out, they laid hidden under the bed, but just barely. Damien turned around, frightened by the sudden voice. His eyes widened as he quickly bent down to find the brown shoes lay there, neat and a little dusty.

“Dammit!” He firmly gripped them and opened up the bag again, which flew open and half the things in there spread across his bed and a pen fell to the floor. Quirinus couldn’t help but giggle at the poor boy, and as he did so Damien started laughing as well. He looked over at Quirrell and smiled. “I guess you’re staying here?”

“Yeah, I only get home at the end of the school years, summer, to not overwhelm mom at home.” Damien let out a soft ‘oh’ in sympathy for the brown haired boy who was now looking out the window at a beautiful black bird who just flew by the window.

“No it’s fine, I actually kind of like it here on holidays, not many students, you know. Finally some peace and quiet, not only in the library.”

Damien nodded before he jumped onto the once again packed bag, now plus the shoes, and managed to close it up. And with that he took his bag and nodded at Quirinus a goodbye with a wide smile on his face before leaving, heading to The Great Hall.

-

The first thing Quirrell did after most students had left Hogwarts, was to go out in the common room. He greeted a third year Ravenclaw who was drawing at the fire. Then he headed out, breathing in the emptiness of the halls. It felt like the whole place was a library, he didn’t hear anyone speaking, only footsteps from other floors and a faint laugh in the distance. It felt wonderful, he felt some stress leave his body as he exhaled. Since the sun was shining and it was so pretty nice out he decided to head outside. His steps were for once slow as he strolled down the hallways. Passing a few students and teachers, giving them a quick smile and nod before continuing. 

As he got outside to sit by a tree once again, he put down his bag and put down his notepad and pen. He looked around for some flowers, and saw a few blue flowers a little further away, so he got up to go look at them. 

Just as he kneeled down to admire them and gently pick one up he heard a familiar voice from behind him.  
“Hey you” It was Tom. “What are you up to?”

“Oh,” Quirrell chuckled awkwardly and then held up the blue flower whose petals looked like they were shining in the bright sun. 

“Oh that’s beautiful!” Riddle exclaimed as he took a step forward and took a hold of the small flower. He held it up to the sun to watch the little flower shine. His mouth was now spread across his face, slightly open and an amazed look in his eyes. He looked so beautiful from this angle. “So, what’s its name?”

“That’s a Nemophila Menziesii, I’m pretty sure. Also known as Baby Blue Eyes.” Riddle studied the flower a little longer before looking back at Quirinus.

“I’ve never really noticed flowers before, like of course I’ve seen them but not in this way.” He then proceeded to hand the flower back to Quirrell, who took it carefully, trying his best not to make skin contact with their hands since the flower was so small. 

“I really love flowers, of all kinds. I might settle for the muggles when I grow up, just to own my own little flower shop.” 

“Muggles? Really?” Riddle’s smile faded away as his eyebrows wrinkled, not being able to wrap his head around such a talented wizard choosing a life with muggles. “I’d rather be in azkaban honestly.”

“I just think they’re kind of cute. I love how they take care of their flowers, watering daily, giving them flower soil and even talking to them to make them happy. Watching them grow more over the days, months and even years and the happiness when they finally blossom. It’s like the flower is thanking you for all the hard work you gave them.” Quirrell was looking up into the sky, thinking about his own little flower shop, meeting people who just wanted a pretty little flower and even other people who were just as interested as him in flowers. 

“I guess, the way you explain it makes it sound like they’re not so bad actually. But I guess we just have different point of views on things.” Riddle went quiet, instead of looking up he looked down, onto the green grass. Quirrell got up and watched Riddle, trying to understand him in a way. A lot of people here didn't like muggles but he himself didn’t mind them, his mother was one after all, but he didn’t want to tell Tom about that part. 

“Anyways, what were you up to before I got here?” Riddle quickly changed the subject, since it was obviously something difficult for him to think about. 

“I- I was just going to sketch out these flowers in my book as a part of my study. You could join me if you’d like, but you don’t have to of course, you probably have better things to do anyways..”

“No, no! The whole squad went home for the holidays so I’m alone at the moment. I’m also the one who searched you up, wasn’t I?” Riddle began walking towards the tree and Quirinus followed.

“You searched for me?” Quirrell watched as Tom looked back at him, eyes widening and a slight blush spread across his cheeks.  
“Well, kind of, I guess. But it’s not like I was searching through the whole castle just for you, I just happened to see you when I was going to the great hall through a window and I thought maybe you wanted some company or something.” It went quiet. Then Quirrell started giggling, his cheeks were also a bit pink now. The younger boy gently hit Riddle's shoulder to show him that it was a joke, that he didn’t really care. But he knew deep down that the thought of him searching for Quirinus made him smile, and the way he got so embarrassed was one of the cutest things he’d witnessed. 

They sat down at the tree, Quirrell began sketching while Riddle talked about things; life, an annoying student and the many tests he had coming up. He mentioned a girl as well, Bellatrix. 

“That’s the girl who came up to us in the library?”

“Oh, you didn’t know her name?” Quirinus shook his head slowly while turning his gaze to the grass. The thing is, he never really paid attention to people in school, not that much. Didn’t bother learning names of people who were just there to look him up and down and give him a disgusted look, why did he know Riddle’s name then? Because maybe Quirrell had looked at him once or twice before, overheard conversations about him and thought about him in between, in his defence everyone knew who he was and especially his name. But everyone also knew Bellatrix’ name, except for Quirrell. “I thought everyone knew who we were, Bellatrix Black, Lucious Malfoy and of course me… Tom Riddle.”

His voice went more quiet as he spoke his own name, as if he didn’t actually want to say it. 

“You know how Bellatrix called me Voldemort in there right?” Quirinus, who was now watching his every move to analyze his feelings, nodded rather quickly. “Well, you see, I’d rather be called that. I have this vision, it may sound silly now but.. I one day want the whole world to know me as Voldemort. I want to take over the wizarding world and I want every wizard and witch to know exactly who I am, and I want them to even fear my name. Lord Voldemort! It sounds so powerful.” Riddle’s eyes were glowing, his teeth were showing and a mischievous smile spread across his face. It looked a bit scary.

“Oh, Lord Voldemort?” Now it was Quirrell’s turn to kind of taste the name. “It does sound powerful, a little bit scary in fact. But maybe that’s the point, your friends do call you their ‘Dark Lord’ so I guess this isn’t too out of your lane.” Riddle looked at him, his eyes had stopped their glowing and his smile had faded.

“Don’t you ever dream of ruling the world?” 

“Not really, I haven’t really thought of it. I’d rather get out of here and start a new life where no one knows me, maybe life in a cottage together with all of my flowers and maybe even some animals like,, like..”

“Snakes!” Voldemort exclaimed. This startled Quirrell since he raised his voice, Quirinus dropped his pen and looked up at him in fear. “Oh, sorry.” His voice immediately softened as soon as he saw how the other boy reacted, he visibly felt bad. 

“No it’s okay, I’m just not really used to people actually talking to me let alone yell ‘snakes’. But I guess that could work as well, snakes in a cottage.” Quirinus picked up his pen and smiled and the taller boy. He smiled back. There was a moment of silence as they locked eyes again, Quirrell almost got lost again until he snapped out of it and got back to finishing his sketch of the Nemophila.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Quirrell felt comfortable with him by his side, so comfortable that he didn’t even notice their arms touching, Tom, or Voldemort, was almost leaning against him, and not soon after he carefully placed his head on the brunette’s shoulder. Although he noticed it, this time he pretended that he didn’t, because he didn’t want it to end. Voldemort sighed heavily, letting the moments pass by, and to be honest it looked kind of comfy. 

But every moment has its end, and so Voldemort suddenly sat right up and looked around him as if he was searching for something.

“What time is it?” His voice cracked out of pure panic.

“Uh, I don’t know. Why?” Quirrell, who had started a new drawing of the flower but from a new angle in the lack of occupation and wanting to keep pretending to keep the moment, looked up and felt oddly sad that his now cold shoulder was, as a matter of fact, cold. 

“I- shit! I was supposed to meet up with Horace Slughorn, he wanted to talk to me about something, most likely about potions but you never know with that man. But now I’m gonna be late!”

“Sorry, but since when do you care about what professors think about you, and uh, attending classes and especially personal meetings? I thought you were all ‘skipping school because I'm cool’ kind of guy?” Quirrell questioned the so-called Dark Lord.

“Well, I was like that, but I don’t want to be like that anymore. I actually care about my grades and my future, if I’m gonna rule the world I have to be smart, you know? Slughorn proposed a meeting now because he thinks I’m terrified of people finding out that I had to actually attend a meeting with a professor, but he is wrong may I add! I might as well go in there, fashionably late.” He ran his long fingers through his hair and looked proud of his plan.

“Alright, but if you want it to be fashionable I think you should get going already, or else it's going to look rather foolish.” Quirrell stated as he patted the other boy on his back, making Voldemort stand up and nod at him. He looked at him for a while, looking like he was thinking about something, or rather hesitating. But then he reached out his hand, showing that he wanted Quirrell’s sketchbook, so the other boy gave it to him along with a pen, a little confused but still obeying. He quickly scribbled something down on the paper, before smiling, handing it back and then hurrying off into the big castle, probably 30 minutes late.

Quirrell waved him off before taking a closer look at his sketchbook, trying to make out the letters of the rushed handwriting.   
‘Meet me outside on the seventh floor, tomorrow night, 11:00 pm. I have something to show you’ And in an even smaller more unreadable font; ‘Incredible sketch by the way ;)’

Quirrell was stunned, what was he planning? Why so late? What did he want to show Quirinus? Enough overthinking about that boy again, he went back to the sketch to finish it, before he too went back into the castle, leaving the sun all by itself


	5. room of requirement

Quirinus woke up the next day with a weird feeling, excitement, nervousness, maybe a bit of both? Whatever Voldemort had planned, he could only hope it wasn’t some evil plan or something that included breaking the school rules. He also wasn’t sure where on the seventh floor they would meet, since it was so big, but he would just have to assume the seventh floor’s corridor since he hadn't really specified. 

But since it was a couple of hours until then, he had the whole day free. He didn’t want to spend too much time on studying since this was supposed to be a week off from school. He then remembered something, Crystal had talked to Damien about how the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was going to do some practising on the easter break. Which also was today, so he decided to head there and cheer for his own house, see if they had a chance of winning this year.

-

When he got there he noticed some teachers along with other Ravenclaws were already there. Waiting for the practise to begin. Some students from other houses were also there, some for the joy of it and others to analyze their strategies and take notes on how to defeat them. He took a seat next to a younger girl with black hair, she greeted him as he sat down and then turned her head back to the pitch. She seemed really excited for some reason. 

Quirrell felt kind of out of place, most of them had their little group of friends that they were chatting with, the girl he sat next to also had her friend next to her, they laughed about things from time to time. He couldn’t help but wish he was in his dorm, doing something else - even if that meant studying. But just as he thought about leaving, the practise started. The few ravenclaws soon kicked off from the ground and flew up on their brooms as the captain was explaining techniques. She continued to direct them throughout the game and showed them some special moves. 

After a few minutes of them flying around chasing after balls, the girl who he sat next to started talking to him.

“Don’t you just love our Quidditch team? I think everyone fits their role perfectly! Well, except for Collins, he should be replaced.” She said rather loudly, making Quirinus feel like everyone was looking their way.

“Collins isn’t that bad, why should he be replaced?” Quirrell tried, his voice was a bit shaky from the sudden conversation. He spotted Collins on his broom, he was a chaser. He flew around after the Quaffel, but never seemed to be able to get his hands on it, even though multiple chances were thrown at him. He seemed a bit scared, but Quirrell knew he hadn’t always been that way.

“Are you even looking at him? He is just in one place while the others do the hard work! I don’t even get why he was chosen in the first place.”

“I guess he looks a bit lost,,” Quirrells words traveled off and the girl looked at him.

“What’s your name by the way? My name is Aleena, fourth year. I haven’t seen you before I don’t think?”

“Uh, Quirinus, sixth year. Well Hogwarts is big, right? I usually spend my time in the library.”

“Oh yeah, makes sense for a Ravenclaw.” She laughed at her own comment, Quirrell tried to chuckle along but didn’t find her very amusing. She fake coughed to make it less awkward before continuing. “Well too bad I haven’t seen you before.., you’re cute.” 

Quirrell’s heart stopped. Was she flirting? His cheeks got really red, not because he was flattered, but because he got embarrassed. The feeling of wanting to go back to his own space struck him like a truck. He tried to speak but no words came out. 

“Okay..” was all he could say and it was already too much. Her shy smile quickly changed to a shocked expression. Mouth wide open, she was speechless. “I, uh , I-” He pointed behind him, towards the castle, and tilted his head before getting up to leave. He half sprinted to get out of the situation as soon as possible. 

-

He spent the rest of his day in his dorm, not wanting to meet another student today. He had been thinking about her, why he was so quick to reject her, so quick to not even try to see the possibility for them. He came to the conclusion that he just didn’t want anyone who was two years younger than him. And it was probably all a joke anyways.

He didn’t want to think about it anymore, and wished to never meet her again. He thought about going to bed when he remembered what Voldemort wrote him the previous day and for some reason his heart lightened and he was quickly filled with joy. The thought of spending more time with him made Quirrell’s heart shine, a feeling he had never felt before. His mind was immediately flooded with questions about what Voldemort had planned for them. 

As he checked the clock he got surprised that he had spent so many hours in here, there was not much time left until he was supposed to meet up with the other boy. He quickly got out of bed and went to change clothes, he wanted to look good, or at least decent for their little meetup. He found a somewhat fancy jacket, probably part of an old suit. He put it over his white button up along with his regular pants. He found a bow tie as well. He checked himself in the mirror, thinking that he did too much. Ran some fingers through his hair to make it look better. He sighed deeply at his effort, afraid that they would just meet up because he had some bad news or something, but the look on his face when he had written the note yesterday made Quirrell feel like there was something special coming up. So he nodded to himself in the mirror before heading out. He tried his best to be quiet, sneaking through the common room to not wake anyone. He looked around for anyone else but no one was spotted, so he continued making his way up to the seventh floor.

As he got to the last step to the Seventh floor corridor, he could see movement in the shadow. Immediately recognizing the tall figure, a smile spread across his face and he felt butterflies fly around his stomach. He couldn’t stop himself from getting so happy even though it could be seen as a little embarrassing. 

Quirrell’s pace got slightly faster, the urge to run was big but that he could stop himself from doing. Soon Voldemort turned towards him as he heard the footsteps. He was leaning against a giant pillar. His hair was neatly combed and he seemed to have dressed up as well. He too seemed to light up as he spotted the other boy. As soon as Quirrell reached him, Voldemort's pretty smile was back. There was a moment of silence as they just watched each other, both a little too happy to just simply meet each other. After a minute or two Voldemort quickly grabbed Quirinus’ hand, which made the smaller boy jump a little. He looked down on their hands, Voldemort's usually cold hand, was today warm. The warmth spread to his own cheeks, and before he could process things furthermore he was being dragged across the hall, Voldemort was really fast, he seemed excited. Quirrell held onto his hand as a lifeline, trying to keep up, they took turn after turn until they suddenly came to a stop and the brown haired boy almost bumped into Voldemort. They had stopped in front of a door. The tall boy looked back at him and let go of his hand, leaving Quirrell feeling the coldness of the air against it. 

“Stand here.” Was the first thing Voldemort said to him that day. Quirinus watched as he then walked over to the door and without saying anything, starting to pace back and forth in front of it. Three times in total. His eyes were shut and his head was tilted forward, facing the ground as he did so. When he was done he once again stood up in front of the big door. He tried to push it open, having to put his own weight onto the door for it to swing open. Quirrell didn’t move from the spot the other boy had left him. He tried to get a glimpse of what was inside, curious of what this mystery room was. He could only see Voldemort's facial expressions, and judging from that, he seemed happy with the room as a smile spread across his face, his eyes darted across the room in amazement before he realized Quirrell hadn’t moved.

“Get over here, Squirrel.” Was all he said. Quirrell didn’t seem to notice the nickname or he simply didn’t mind it. After all, it was kind of cute. 

He did as he was told and carefully moved towards him, getting a better and better view of what was inside. He saw some candles and a big window and just as he reached the doorstep he was forcefully dragged inside by a firm grip on his arm. The door shut behind them with a big slam and he was pushed against it. Shockwaves were sent through the little boy’s body, he looked up at the snake like face which in return was staring back at him. Voldemort had one of his hands against the door, making him lean over Quirrell, uncomfortably close. But only when Voldemort had pushed himself away from the door and started pacing around the room, only then Quirrell missed their intimate moment. He quickly brushed it off, not wanting to look like a tomato for the rest of the night. 

As his pulse had gone down and the night was calm again he was able to get a good look on the big room. It was a very tall room, all made of stone. Five big gothic style windows on one of the walls, letting the light of the full moon reflect on the shiny stone floor. Around the corners were some cozy looking benches made out of wood, they were filled with candles which also gave the room, or the corners, some light. There were even some candles on the floor, they looked like they had burned for some time since they all were pretty small compared to what they probably were when they were new, stearin was seen dripping from the table at one spot, it was all dried though. The tables were also dusty, and so was the floor. He couldn’t help but wonder how long these candles had lasted for to still burn, seeing the place was pretty old. 

All in all, it was pretty beautiful. It had some nostalgia to it, the candles helped with the more cosy, nice feeling and the big windows made it seem like something out of a horror movie, but in a good way. 

As Quirrell scanned the place he suddenly heard some music, low volume. His head soon pointed at the direction of the sound and saw an old gramophone at the end of a table, weirdly he didn’t spot that detail earlier. Voldemort was leaning over and had just made it start playing, when he turned around to face Quirrell.

“What is this place?” He asked after a long pause, confused about the lack of explaining from the other boy. Voldemort chuckled.

“Well, it’s a magical room to begin with. It can turn into whatever you wish, you just have to walk in front of it three times, like I did, and imagine your room and when you open the door, it’s all there! I just discovered it last year, I think I’m gonna call it The-Room-That-Can-Turn-Into-Whatever-You-Want.” He seemed fairly proud of it, as if he had created the whole thing himself.

“Isn’t that a little…, long?” Quirrell questioned, realizing the boy didn’t know the actual name for it.

“No, I think it’s just perfect. It tells you everything you need to know in just one name, you can’t go wrong with that.”

“Do you know, the actual name of it?”

“I was the one who discovered it, who else would’ve named it before me if they didn’t know it existed?” Voldemort seemed to think so highly of himself, no way he found it before generation after generation of hundreds of students walking and sneaking around every corner the castle had. Quirrell decided not to argue with him since his mind was already made up.

They went back to listening to the music, and as the calm music was building it’s way up, something changed in the taller boy. Voldemort’s eyes lit up in excitement, looking like he knew this part by heart, and he did. He studded further away, towards the big windows, where there was plenty of room to move around. Quirrell watched him in wonder as he stepped into the moonlit floor making his shiny hair and big eyes shine in a beautiful blue color. He took position there, legs wide and a hand in the air, and then the music’s beat dropped and Voldemort started moving. His legs were moving in sync with the music, he knew every step, and his arms flayed around from top to bottom and made it all look so elegant. Quirrell was stunned, his mouth partly open as he watched the figure dance from window to window. It looked like he was flying, his eyes, which had been shut since the beat dropped, now opened and they quickly fixated at Quirrell, who couldn’t keep his amazement back. Voldemort winked at him as he saw Quirinus’ facial expression, seeing as he was enjoying it, and for a moment Quirrell’s eyes widened at his subtle gesture but Voldemort quickly closed his eyes again as he flung himself up into the air in a nice pirouette. He ended in a final pose as the music stopped with him. His chest was rising and shrinking to his heavy breathing. 

“Woah,” was all Quirrell could say, he never knew “The Dark Lord” could have such a talent, such a beautiful and unexpected talent. Voldemort just smiled more at his reaction but he stood his ground for a couple of more seconds, nothing but the sound of the vinyl being spun around until finally the next tune started playing. This one was even calmer, and had such a lovely vibe to it. 

Before Quirrell could think any longer, the dancing boy had made his way up to him, reaching out his hand and looking the shocked boy right in his eyes. Quirrell couldn’t think, his head was made empty as the pale, and a little sweaty, hand was now right in front of him, waiting for his response. There was so much expectation in the other boy’s eyes, Voldemort was kneeling on the floor so that his hand was in the same height as his head. 

He finally reached out his own hand, and carefully placing it in the others, it looked like Voldemort was about to explode before he got up and gently dragged them over to the open space. They now stood there, Voldemort looking at the other boy with Quirrell’s hands placed on top of his as he held them dearly. The brunette was still in a state of shock, his stomach had turned into a whole field full of the type of flowers that butterflies loved most. His gaze was still stuck on their hands, trying to fully process the situation. And as he finally went to meet the other’s eyes, Voldemort gently squeezed his hands and moved one of their hands outwards, intertwining their fingers as smoothly as he could. This allowed him to take a step closer, he could almost feel the warmth of Quirrell's breath on his own chin, but Quirrell had turned his gaze down again, too embarrassed. He felt exposed in a way, vulnerable, but still safe. He was in the hands of the guy who had duelled a student three years older than himself and still won with the first strike, in the hands of the guy who had plans of taking over the world with just fear and hatred, a guy who everyone was most afraid of, yet he felt so safe. He once again looked up into the other’s eyes, they were so warm and kind, and his smile seemed so genuine. And as they watched each other, standing right in the blue light of the full moon, he too turned his once shocked expression into a smile, just as genuine and warm. As he had so desperately tried to find an answer for why he adored this man so much, he had a realization. 

Quirinus Quirrell was in love with Tom Riddle, also knows as Voldemort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not updating in a while but it has been a lot these past couple of weeks, i've been so excited for this chapter though so i hope it was worth the wait!!


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